Table of Contents
A Note from the Authors xi
Introduction: The One/Two Punch xvii
Part 1 What Your School District Isn't Telling You 1
1 Your Special Education Director May Not Know Who You Are 5
2 Who's Chairing the Meeting, Anyway? 9
3 They Care about Money. A Lot. 15
4 Teachers Need to Eat, Too 25
5 The Tension between Regular and Special Education 31
6 Other Parents Are Complaining about Your Kid 39
7 The Meeting before the Meeting 45
8 The Teacher Needs Help, bat Nobody Wants to Say So 49
9 The Least Trained Person and the Most Complex Children 53
10 Why They Care about Which Label They Give Your Child 59
11 The Perils of Doing Nothing: Lessons from Sandy Hook 65
Part 2 Moving Forward 73
12 You Have Rights 75
13 The Right to Ask for an Evaluation for Services 81
14 The Right to a Second Opinion 87
15 Counseling and Training Are Not Just for Kids 95
16 Discrimination, Retaliation, Intimidation, Oh My! 101
17 Procedural Safeguards 109
18 You Shouldn't Have to Pay for That 113
19 Can You Observe Your Child in School? 117
20 Scheduling IEP Meetings 125
21 Special Education Urban Legends Exposed 129
22 Getting Ready for Primetime: Transition to Adulthood 135
Part 3 Where the Rubber Meets the Road 141
23 Demystify the Paperwork 143
24 We Have a Form for That! 147
25 Bring Your A Game 153
26 Know the Players 161
27 Toothless IEP Language 167
28 Little-Understood IEP Essentials 173
29 Finding Your Advocacy Style 183
30 Best-Kept Secrets 187
References 193
Acknowledgments 197
Index 201